Walls are up!

Buenos Días,

There are some walls up now. Well, part of the walls. For this building we are using a preformed wire mesh frame with foam sandwiched between. This is anchored in using rebar set in the cement foundation or columns. For those that were not working to build the walls there was rebar work. This meant either cutting, straightening, or bending rebar or heavy wire. Once a wall in in place a rebar beam needs to be added across the top tying into the columns. This beam will be made of four long thicker pieces running parallel with rectangle pieces set equidistant perpendicular along the lenght of the long rebar. The long pieces are tied into each corner of the rectangular pieces forming a long rectangular column. This is attached to the columns and then a wood form is built around the beam and it is filled with concrete.

The panels are attached by using a long strip of wires welded together to form a zig zag strip that is woven into the two panels to hold them together. Rebar pieces are also attached to provide additional strength. Your family and friends will be able to better explain the process than I can writing it out. Once the walls are in place they will be covered with a stucco type cement on both sides creating the final wall. You should see much more progress tomorrow as a good chunk of today was spent perfecting the process. We won't get to the stuccoing while we are here.

The Americans and the Mexicans are getting along great. With the help of some translations, a few years of Spanish or English and hand signals communication is happening and relationships are being built. Most of the communication is happening through laughing. Take note of Stephen's height on his knees in the picture and Betty's height (on Stephen's right). Also the bunny ears on John Tassos.

The evening was spent with the students playing Uno or matching rhythms and patterns involving cups (another thing that is better explained in person than writing). We closed out our time with them singing some worship songs in English and Spanish. We then had our small groups and called it an early night so people can rest. We have been having some stomach ailments but nothing long lasting and mostly just being some what upset. There have not been any cases of prolonged vomiting or diarrea. I think much of it is just eating different foods with different spices and seasonings. However, please continue to keep us in your prayers. We are running down the home stretch here.

Thank you,

Chuck